Mr Starmer’s call was supported by several victims of child sexual abuse who argued that a legal requirement to report could have spared them their ordeal.

Speaking in a BBC Panorama documentary about the child protection system in the wake of the revelations about Jimmy Savile and others, Mr Starmer said that although many professions already have guidance requiring them to alert the appropriate authority about suspicions there remains a “gap” in the law in the UK, which he said should be brought into line with that in countries such as the US, Canada and Australia.

“I think the time has come to change the law and close a gap that’s been there for a very long time,” he said.

“I think there should be a mandatory reporting provision.

"The problem is if you haven’t got a central provision requiring people to report, then all you can do is fall back on other provisions that aren’t really designed for that purpose and that usually means they run into difficulties.

“What you really need is a clear, direct law that everybody understands.”

Mr Starmer said that he had reached the view of lengthy consideration of the options.

“I went to Washington to see how the specialist teams there deal with it,” he told the programme.

“They do have a mandatory reporting scheme, a very straightforward, simple scheme and something like that I think could work in this country.”

The Church of England’s head of child safeguarding, The Rt Revd Paul Butler, the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, said: “We have to think of the child first, not ourselves, not the institution, what’s best for the child.”

Danny Sullivan, chairman of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission said: “The Catholic Church in England and Wales has been following the principle of mandatory reporting for some time and that it is why we would have no problem with such a provision being enshrined in law.

“There are robust safeguarding policies and procedures in operation throughout the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

“Any allegations of abuse are referred to the police and other relevant authorities. The Catholic Church is committed to ensuring the safety and protection of every child and vulnerable person.”

But a spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Mandatory reporting is not the answer.

“Guidance is already crystal clear that professionals should refer immediately to social care when they are concerned about a child.

“Other countries have tried mandatory reporting and there is no evidence to show that it is a better system for protecting children.